The Way of the Clan 8

by Dem Mikhaylov

  I was near the square. Ten paces from me, the Sleepless warriors, frozen in shock. Then I turned my head and saw the slowly approaching apocalypse of sand and, circling around me, the furious star guard emitting dozens of multi-colored rays of magic.

  “Guys!” I said, spitting sand. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, we are fine!” Malice shouted. “Ros! The hell did you do?!”

  “I ... took it! And did not ask for more, I swear by God! And this I also didn’t ask for!”

  With a wild roar, a black tornado tore through a pair of half-ruined watchtowers from the quake and, having made one circle around, launched a tower directly into me. A whole tower! The guard star incinerated the towers, destroyed a dozen other pieces of stone debris.

  I am not a fool. I understand hints quickly.

  Jumping up, I ran to Malice, shouting at the top of my lungs:

  "It is over! Where to?!”

  “Ros! I ... I ... you, I'm you now ...” the battlemage shook his head. “You ... you ... it is ... this is the thing.” The hand of the wizard motioned helplessly into a huge black tornado. “This is ...”

  "We have to take it down," the paladin Anh noticed. The others nodded hastily, looking at the quickly fleeing ants. They showed an enviable sense of self-preservation, instantly realizing that there was nothing more to catch here.

  "Are the camels still alive?" I asked, feverishly trying to figure out the right direction.

  “Ros, what is that?” Asked Malice again, still stubbornly poking his finger at the black tornado. There were many tornadoes here... We were in the desert, after all. This was a frequent phenomenon.

  "I do not know," I answered sincerely. "No idea! We must go!”

  “Look there!” Cried the doctor-girl.

  We looked at each other. Well, now I fully understood their surprise - a number of aggr players now occupied about two dozen distant roofs to the south of us. They were standing tall, they were not hiding at all as they watched the raging terrible tornado and the dancing flight of the ancient guardian star.

  “This way! Roared Malice. “Leadership moves on to me.”

  "And the exam?” Asked Anh.

  “You all passed. Everyone got the highest score, acted skillfully and in time,” the war mage responded, taking out of his bag a large clay pot, whose sides were covered with mysterious symbols. “Closer to me!”

  We obediently crowded together, waiting expectantly, never taking our eyes off the impending disaster. Malice raised the clay pot higher, and shouted aloud:

  “Allaros hydana molodis!”

  The pot landed on a sandy mound. There was now a dent in it, but otherwise it remained intact. Nothing more happened. We kept our silence. Cursing, Malice bent down. He picked up the pot, shook off the dust from it, and muttered:

  “Fucking sandbox...” again he picked up the vessel and shouted. “Allaros hydana molodis!”

  He pot crashed to the ground, another dent was made, and ... it remained intact. Nothing more happened. A quiet, choked laugh was heard from among our friendly ranks. Looking at us with a furious gaze, the mage-instructor bent down, picked up the damned pot, and then cried out:

  “Allaros hydana molodis!” And with the fury of doom, hurled the pot down.

  This time it worked out. The vessel shattered into fragments, and a brown cloud burst from the broken pot, quickly enveloping us from head to toe. Inside the brown fog of flashed some bright green sparks. Dozens of strong curved branches curled around them. All of them intertwined, and I did not have time to blink before our brave team was imprisoned inside the giant ball of vines. The hurricane turned and jerked away towards some abandoned buildings. Soon, a huge boulder was hurled at us — but did nothing. The black tornado howled helplessly and followed us as we went, ignoring the energy strikes of the guardian star.

  I was happy with one thing only – that we did not go upside down. We rushed forward, bouncing on the tops of the dunes and diving into the pits. We swept past several crossroads in a few moments. I managed to notice the running figures of "red” players as we went. At some point Malice’s hand jerked, and the wobbling ball squashed a couple of the villains, sticking them with thorns. The main thing was that we very quickly moved away from the threat. The roar of enraged elements began to subside behind us. But now, ahead, a new trouble arose - something like a powerful barricade blocked the street. This did not faze Malice – again he changed the route, and we took off over the air, a number of roofs flying by beneath us. Then the ball cracked, several branches burst and hung helplessly. This made sense — it was not a tank. It was a getaway vehicle.

  As for the massive arch of the northern gate - we could slip through it peacefully. If we were lucky there would be no ambush ... I did not have time to think the thought through to the end. We kept on running. A huge scarlet scorpion emerged from under the sand just as unexpectedly as a genie from a lamp and made a sharp strike a poisonous tail, but only got the sand with its sting - we managed to slip through. We all looked back only at the black gigantic mushroom that rose above the retreating city ruins - exactly as it happens after a nuclear explosion, judging from the official newsreels. In the air hung a terrible mushroom cloud woven from black sand.

  "I probably should not have torn the bell off," I said softly, massaging my temples. "But it was so lonely there ..."

  "What fucking bell?!" Malice exploded. “Damn! Ugh! Okay! For now, be silent, think and gather your thoughts. Think about how you could give us such a story. Imagine that you are talking to a friend – a buddy who has come to visit. You pour a bit of aged whiskey, so you have strength. The dude drinks it, and then… all is blown to hell by a fucking tornado! But that was not all ... ugh! Whatever, the main thing is to get out of here. Ros, and you be quiet and think. Look for an explanation for a nuclear mushroom buried in the sky behind us. For now, just shut up ...”

  I realized that this was also a direct hint for me to shut your mouth and be silent because there were too many potentially dangerous, foreign ears around. After all, the guys were only recent recruits. There may even be moles from other clans among them. Or they might be naturally talkative. Therefore, it was not necessary to share such important info with them. At first, Malice had demanded the information out of excitement. But now the veteran had come to his senses, had again remembered secrecy.

  Heeding the hint, I shut up. Looking at the flickering landscape, I quietly checked into my interface. I must also read what the game system wrote to me there.

  You have the effect of "The Living Blood of the Great"

  I blinked my eyes, looked again. The inscription had not changed. It still said the same thing:

  You have the effect of "The Living Blood of the Great"

  “Ahem,” I cautiously cleared my throat, and spoke right into the ear of Malice. “Listen, are there any other "Blood of the Greats"?”

  “What do you mean? Dead blood of the Great.”

  "Well, yes," I agreed. "But what's wrong with this picture is…” I glanced at the distinctly visible word "Living" before "the blood of the Greats."

  “Sure,” the magician shrugged his shoulders “A good thing. Mana gives for free and for long. Oh! I forgot to ask! I saw that tornado, and forgot at once. Did it happen? You took a sip, I heard, but about the result ...”

  "I have not checked it yet."

  “Well, check it. Half a day was spent for this.”

  "I'm already checking," I assured Malice.

  “Quickly.”

  Returning to the study of the information, I was numb for a couple of seconds, trying with all my might to contain the sudden hysterical attack of laughter that welled up in me. What was the matter? The fact was that I was about to show Malice all the information on the characteristics and general information. I would have to — it would be very strange if I suddenly did not give access to the info. So it was not possible to hide — but, to be honest, I was not too eager to have another secret. I already had enough of
those. First, I decided to have at least a look and understand what had happened to me.

  You have the effect of "The Living Blood of the Great"

  Your mana reserve is increased by 25%.

  Your health points are increased by 12%.

  Your Intelligence is increased by 20 points.

  Your Stamina is increased by 5 points.

  Your Strength is increased by 10 points.

  Your Wisdom is increased by 35 points.

  The cost of mana for any Great spell is reduced by 10%.

  The cost of mana for any Great skill is reduced by 10%.

  The effect of using any Great item is increased by 10%.

  Additional Information:

  This effect does not affect other players.

  The effect is valid for: 00 months, 29 days, 23 hours ...

  Attention! At the end of the term of the "Living Blood of the Great" this effect will be replaced by "Dead Blood of the Great" with the corresponding change in bonuses and penalties!

  You have received the "Immunity of the Great" effect.

  Your resistance to divine curses, blessings or other similar effects is: 100%.

  Your resilience to divine magic is increased by: 47%.

  The effect lasts until the "Living Blood of the Greats" disappears.

  Attention!

  The existing effect of "Poisoned brain" is neutralized!

  Reason: effect of the "Immunity of the Great" effect.

  Attention!

  The existing effect of "Snessa's Prey" is neutralized!

  Reason: effect of the "Immunity of the Great" effect.

  Attention!

  The existing special effect "Family relationship" cannot be neutralized.

  Cause: the effect of the "Parental Ties" effect.

  It seemed that the star guard had "revived" the blood of the Greats in the palms of the statue. The liquid had turned crimson. The star had cunningly forced me to drink the magical water. And here was the amazing result — an abundance of effects and neutralizations. And I also had a question.

  The main one is - why? Why should a star friend visit me and do such niceties?

  Judging by the direction of all the effects ... I was being "pumped" in my magic skills.

  For what reason? Well, I see only one – because of the Lost Mainland.

  There was no other task for which I would need a huge amount of mana and a large stock of vitality. But I could be wrong. It may be that soon, a star would appear before me, and say something interesting with its inhuman voice, directing me towards a place from which no one has ever returned.

  Oh, my head...

  I wonder what Snessa will say now? Hm? How will she accept the fact that I defended myself against being her prey?

  “Oh, Malice,” I cleared my throat, calling the powerful mage. “Um...”

  “What's with the effect?” He responded, not looking up from the desert.

  “Send me a request for accessing my info,” I suggested. “Why waste words.”

  “True,” he nodded, and I got the notification.

  I answered the request in the affirmative, waited two seconds, and said in surprise:

  “Strange, huh. You also have such an effect, right?”

  The answer followed immediately. But it was unexpected - the radiant light in the hand of Malice faded, he grabbed his head and said something vaguely blurred, looking at my personal information with an unseeing gaze. Our "convertible" tumbleweed lost control and, respectively, bouncy pool ball we rolled aimlessly.

  - Rift! The rift on the course! – cried the girl mage.

  "Holy crap!” cried the paladin, "intercepting" the control. The rolling was straightened, and we rushed to the side.

  Standing inside the ball, we looked under our feet – it was there, in the twisted position of the embryo, which the honored war mage of the Sleepless was lying. He lays there, muttering something plaintive under his breath. Perhaps he was reading soothing mantras.

  "Wondering," I said.

  There was a notification. I had a new mysterious spell on the list of magic. It had appeared by itself — with a terse brief warning.

  Congratulations!

  You have studied the "Aura of Great Power" spell!

  Effect of the spell: increases the effect of any spells and skills of the Greats by 3%.

  Required amount of mana points: 600 mana per minute.

  "Have you seen this?" I could not resist, displaying the info of a new spell and slipping it to the nose of the moaning Malice.

  “Ohh!” said Malice and buried his face in the tangle of dry thorns, quietly crying. It seems ... the mantras were not helping anymore.

  Although, having looked closer, I realized that the war magician was cursing. So skillfully, that, from the spitting of words, not only my ears began to wilt but also the thin shoots of the ball. After lying down for a minute, Malice got up with difficulty, wiped dirt from his forehead, was silent for a while, and then asked:

  “The question is — how?”

  "I have no idea,” I confessed. “I’m certainly being used. Nobody will give such a gift only out of the kindness of the soul. By the way, I lost the bonus of Snessa's "poisoned brain". That is a pity. There were many pluses and disadvantages there.”

  "You and I will have a talk," Malice promised me. "In a secluded place and with less company, you and me. The current bonus is very weighty, Ros. So weighty that I do not kill you with jealousy for only one reason - I want to get to our goal. By the way, do you know that a spell can be transferred to another player?”

  “The first time I hear this.”

  “Come on ... don’t you already dream of what would please your old fighting friend Malice? An unexpected offer, perhaps? You have already decided on a sum, haven’t you? Can you whisper it in my ear?”

  “Hellnoways!”

  “What are these?”

  “The inhabitants of “youwontgetanything” dungeon. Far away from here.”

  "Well, well, we will definitely have a talk," Malice promised again, and took over the paladin's control. "I’m giving three extra points to everyone. If rumor goes around of how I broke the clay pot, I will take three points from the one of you I see first. Random punishments generator rules!”

  "I am as silent as a fish," the paladin grunted.

  The spherical vehicle twisted beautifully between two magnificent sandy hills, raised a cloud of dust and jerked strictly to the west, if you believed the words of the muttering crossbowman, who was checking a multicolored magical atlas.

  “Huh,” said the second archer. “Camps in the north!”

  "It is too late," snarled Malice. "We are free. But those who remain in Mirny now hate us... I warn you - be ready to face the aggrs who will seek you. And of course, be prepared to fight back!”

  "Why are there so many aggrs here?" I remembered, looking at the military banners. Judging by the words of the archer, these were the banners of the Dead Sands warriors hurrying to the ruins we left, in order to punish the insolent invaders for invading the forbidden territories.

  "They bleach in the sun," the paladin growled.

  I thought about it, rolling these words in my head. Something familiar. Well-known.

  "Redness is treated with sun baths and night cold," explained the doctor-girl, who again flashed her versatile knowledge. Surely, at school she had been an excellent pupil with two pigtails and glasses with thick lenses.

  Then I remembered.

  Curative baths of the desert.

  In the world of Valdira, there were several places where the criminal "redness" of the aggr players was treated many times faster. And Mirny was one of the most powerful "rehabilitation" places. Staying here from morning to night, you could get a big "discount" of the criminal term. And sometimes amnesty. The main thing was to hold out and not die. There were dozens of ways to sneak into these places unnoticed, avoiding encounters with "green" players and monsters. And time could be spent with advantage – en
gaging in small crafts, reading books, correspondence on forums, dialogue with similar "convicts". But this was difficult business. Malice said something about the local night monsters…

  And most importantly, in Mirny there were no constant patrols of camps. Only the soldiers of other desert clans. They came here at the signal. And we, bouncing along the streets on camels, announced a brazen invasion at the top of our voice.

  To top it off, we - or rather I – had hung a black nuclear mushroom above Mirny, which would attract even more unnecessary witnesses, local warlike inhabitants, and terrible monsters. After that, cheerfully waving goodbye to the aggrs, we happily raced off towards the sunset.

  “It is bad to be a criminal,” insecurely stated the "excellent student".

  "So you tell them that," I sighed. Shrugging my shoulders, I turned and looked to the southeast. The black tornado continued to spin over the ruins. The air around it was now filled with various debris. Probably a fun time.

  “We’re here!” Said the lightly exasperated Malice. “We are past the forbidden field! Quickly! The hole is now closed! Scrolls out!”

  You did not have to ask us twice. I grabbed the scroll for a second, and then watched as the rest of the squad began to disappear one by one into flashes of teleportation:

  “Where to?”

  “Anywhere safe. You must rest. I advise you to sleep a little. And then ... Well, you understand.”

  “Oh, right,” I smiled. “I got it. Meeting point?”

  “The restaurant. The very one that you and your harpy friends smashed up.”

  “A mammoth turned up!”

  “That was Orbit’s doing. You were still responsible. Listen, about the spell…”

  "See you in two hours!" I said, and whispered: “Algora.”

  The flash carried me away from the hot desert. Only Malice remained.

  In a moment, I was in Algora again. In a shady square. Next to a gurgling fountain, into which I immediately plunged my sandy head. The floating tortoises dodged me. I shook off the water and went for the nearest bank. What for? To put some elixirs into my cell. I would also put the brass bell in - I did not intend to give the bell to the Sleepless.